Rapper Casanova has been denied bail as he faces federal charges for racketeering charges. The rapper is in jail for intentionally manufacturing, distributing, and dispensing crack, cocaine, and marijuana, as well as possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Casanova turned himself in to authorities on December 4th as part of a group of men wanted by police. This week his bail application was rejected by a judge as evidence from his text messages, and Instagram were admitted into court. Casanova, whose real name is Caswell Senior, his lawyer presented a $2.5 million bail package.
Properties belonging to the rapper valued at $1.2 Million and 13 co-signors who put up their salaries totaling $1.2 Million were offered as part of the bail arrangement. Prosecutors in the case though want to keep the rapper locked up. New documents by federal authorities make a case as to why bail should be refused and says the rapper is too dangerous to be released.
Prosecutors also scoffed at a post that Casanova made on Instagram prior to turning himself in, in which he says the authorities were targeting him over his successful rap career and his lyrics. The post now deleted had a video of Casanova saying goodbye to his wife before turning himself in.
They’ve since scoured his Instagram for evidence and say that a post on his Instagram just days before he was detained that was promoting a song called “Gripped Up’, had a picture of an assault rifle. They also presented pictures from his iCloud and Instagram accounts, showcasing various kinds of handguns as well as a rifle seated on a couch.
They said, “while it is incredibly disturbing that the defendant used his now deleted Instagram profile and platform to shamelessly promote a violent street gang, his participation in the untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation enterprise ran much deeper than that. Right up until his arrest, the defendant was in the thick of Gorilla’s Stone’s dangerous and illicit activity,” the report by Audrey Strauss, one of the prosecutors said.
Feds also said they installed a listening device at the Auburn Correctional Facility to eavesdrop on visits between the United Gorilla Stone’s leader Dwight Reid aka ‘Dick Wolf’ and other members of the gang. During one of the visits, a co-defendant Walter Luster aka Shells, told Reid a story about how Casanova accidentally shot a gun during a poker game in New York. Luster reportedly said Casanova was always carrying a gun while in the streets. Casanova’s conversations with Reid were also recorded.
According to federal authorities, Casanova supported Reid and Gorilla Nation from kickback earnings from his rap career. He also allegedly organized and managed gang meetings as a “steward” as “the leader of the violent organization.”
Feds also entered posts on Instagram where Casanova is seen blatantly dealing with drugs as he is surrounded by bags of branded marijuana. He allegedly used the gang members to sell the narcotics, and according to the Feds, he told gang members the bags of weed were going for “1,700 a qt” in messages they retrieved from his iCloud history.
As part of the refusal for the bail application, the prosecution also noted to the judge that Casanova’s previous criminal history, including three felony charges and three misdemeanors for three gunpoint robberies, are important factors for refusing bail.
They also rejected the home detention offered by the defendant’s attorney saying that those would “do nothing to assure the safety of the community.” He was also labeled a flight risk due to his delay in surrendering to police after the racketeering charges were laid. “Indeed in the minutes and hours after the defendant realized law enforcement was looking for him, law enforcement received geolocation data for the defendant’s cell phone, which is consistent with the cell phone being dropped…he did not self-surrender right away in Atlanta where he was the day his arrest warrant was unsealed. It was only after several rounds of negotiations with Counsel- and after the defendant seemingly dropped his cellphone and drove from New York to Atlanta- that the defendant surrendered two days later. While, in the end, the wisdom of counsel prevailed on him, the most telling insight into this defendant comes from his first reaction the day his arrest warrant was unsealed: he ran.”
Casanova faces a minimum sentence of 15 years to life if convicted of all the crimes he is accused of. He is among 18 defendants charged in the RICO case against the United Gorilla Stone Nation, which is accused of racketeering, drugs, firearms, murder, and fraud.
The presiding judge in Casanova’s RICO case, U.S. District Judge Phillip Halpern, is now reportedly considering the proposed $2.5 million bond, which means that the New York rapper could be out pending his trial.
